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The following, including background information about "UNICO, The Italian American Club of the Twin Cities," is provided for AIGA Minnesota student members of Italian descent. While the scholarships referred to are not specifically for AIGA Minnesota student members, those of Italian heritage may qualify... According to http://unico-tc.com/notizie/2008-2febbraio.pdf: "UNICO Scholarships. The Twin Cities Chapter of UNICO has revised its scholarship program this year. For the 2008 year, UNICO will give two $2,500 scholarships to high school seniors of Italian descent who have maintained a 3.5 GPA. In addition, UNICO will offer two $2,500 scholarships for students of Italian descent who are already in college. Students need to have maintained a 3.5 GPA and have completed at least two full semesters of college. Applicants should be residents of the 11-county metro area and show some financial need. Complete details are on the scholarship application form available on the UNICO website: www.unico-tc.com, or by request from Judy Rulli Socha at scholarship@unico-tc.com."

http://unico-tc.com/about.html

"About Twin Cities UNICO
We are a chapter of the largest Italian American service organization in the United States. UNICO was founded in 1922 to fight discrimination and defamation. The Twin Cities Chapter was formed in 1941. The founders felt as Italians we could best serve UNICO's mission by showing our responsibility to our communities with our good works.
THE TWIN CITIES METRO AREA CHAPTER supports UNICO NATIONAL'S programs with an emphasis on meeting local needs. We provide scholarships, and support for nonprofit charities, community activities, and efforts to preserve Italian culture and heritage. Our more than 50 years of service have provided financial contributions totalling over six figures.

UNICO Mission Statement
To contribute to the well-being of our local communities and of the nation by making significant contributions to deserving local and national charities. UNICO strives to honor, perpetuate, and disseminate the culture and ethnic heritage of our Italian immigrant ancestors, by supporting higher education and by educating and informing our members, local communities and our nation.

UNICO Twin Cities Chapter History
The local UNICO club was founded in 1939 when Charles J. Yarusso, attorney, conceived the idea of a business and professional men's group comprised entirely of Americans of Italian origin. The first meeting was held in May of that year. The name chosen was Italian American Business and Professional Men's Club of St. Paul. In 1941 the club affiliated with UNICO International, which was founded in 1922. The St. Paul chapter was very involved in national meetings and affairs at that time. This chapter hosted the national convention in St. Paul in 1948.

Our chapter inaugurated UNICO scholarships in 1945, which National UNICO adopted for all its chapters in 1948.

In 1997, the chapter changed its bylaws to accept women members. Katherine Piccolo and Diane Rossi were the first female members. Since then the chapter has achieved unprecedented membership increases and its contributions to charities have grown immensely. Since its inception in 1939, the chapter has donated almost $1 million dollars to scholarships, Gillette Children's Hospital, St. Francis Brothers of Peace, and countless other charitable groups doing good works. Service Above Self."

According to http://unico-tc.com/notizie.html:
"Notizie" ["an email newsletter for Italian Americans, Italians and Italophiles"] is produced each month by Celeste R. Raspanti, Ph.D., and distributed as an e-newsletter. UNICO is pleased help share Notizie by maintaining links of current and back issues on our site. If you would like to receive this e-newsletter monthly directly to your email address, please send a note directly to Celeste requesting that you be added to her mailing list...."

According to http://unico-tc.com/ :
"Next monthly UNICO meeting: Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Unless otherwise noted, meetings are at the International Institute, 1694 Como Ave., St Paul. Plan to Join us!... envenuti A Tutti! Our meetings are free and open to the public. Come visit and see if you want to join! Monthly meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at the International Institute in St. Paul."

According to http://unico.org:

"UNICO was founded on October 10, 1922 in Waterbury, Connecticut. A group of 15 men, led by Dr. Anthony P. Vastola, came together to create what has become a very special and very proud organization. It was Dr. Vastola's dream to create an Italian American service organization to engage in charitable works, support higher education, and perform patriotic deeds.

In World War I, the Italian American community represented only four percent of the entire United States population. Although 12 percent of all Americans casualties during this conflict were Italian-American, the loyalty of Italian Americans was questioned. The Sacco-Venzetti trial was fueled by prevailing sentiment that Italian Americans remained loyal to their former homeland. Our founders wanted to insure that everyone understood that Italian Americans loved their adopted country and held no allegiance to their native land save traditions and culture.

The name UNICO was selected as best representing the nature and the character of this fledging organization. The name is the Italian word for unique, one of a kind. The founders believed that UNICO would be the only one of its kind because it placed service to the community before and above fraternity. At the same time they hoped that the rest of society would come to know and understand the real contributions of Italian-Americans to our way of life. Its sole purpose was to unite all Italian Americans and motivate them to become more civic minded. In order to accomplish this, members would have to understand that they would have to make sacrifices, not for personal gain, but for service to others. In the ensuing years UNICO became an acronym that stood for Unity, Neighborliness, Integrity, Charity, and Opportunity.

UNICO and the National Civic League Merge

Immediately following World War II, interest was created in merging two disparate groups who held a common idea and common vision; the creation of a truly National Italian American organization with chapters from Massachusetts to Oregon. This second group was known as the National Civic League, with a very strong presence in the Midwest.

Antonio R. Rizzuto was the founder and driving force behind the creation of the National Civic League. He was a very successful contractor, influential business and civic leader who resided in Omaha, Nebraska. His business took him to many other cities in the great heartland of America.

On May 27, 1931, Rizzuto called a meeting of prominent Americans of Italian heritage in his native city of Omaha. The purpose of this gathering was to discuss the need to organize Italian-Americans into a national body or group. The underlying theme or purpose for this group would be to promote service to the community or civic work as it was called. The ultimate goal was to make all of its members better American citizens.

A Promise that Continues to be Delivered

Since the inception of UNICO National in 1947, thousands of people and individual charities have been the recipients of UNICO's charity. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for national and international disasters. Typical of this generosity was the gift of $500,000 to create 10 buildings in Italy to house those suffering form the ravages of an earthquake disaster. UNICO's latest disaster relief effort was raising $30,000 for victims of the September 11th Twin Towers attack. One of the recipients was Windows of Hope which provided relief to those who worked in the restaurants and food services located in the World Trade Center.

Each year, UNICO Foundation and UNICO National Chapters donate approximately $1 million to various charities. Scholarships continue to be the primary focus, as roughly one-third of all monies raised goes to deserving students from chapter locations throughout the chain.

UNICO National has funded major research in Cooley's Anemia and Mental Health. Through its association with the Jimmy Valvano Foundation it has funded several $50,000 grants to help find a cure for Cancer. These worthy areas continue to receive generous support from the chapters and its members for these worthy causes.

UNICO National has taken a lead position in combating the negative stereotype of Italian Americans, in the electronic and the print media. The Anti-Bias committee is recognized as one of the leaders in this important battle. Through its efforts UNICO has become recognized as a true leader in this important battle.

It is in higher education that UNICO National has established itself as a true leader of the Italian-American community. In 1986 the UNICO Districts and Chapters were asked to support the creation of the first Endowed Chair in Modern Italian History, in the United States, at the University of Connecticut. After an arduous campaign this small group was responsible for raising over $250,000 toward the $1 million objective. The campaign was completed in 1992 and Professor John Davis was appointed to be the first Noether Chair in Modern Italian History.

On March 10, 1993, the Chancellor of Seton Hall, Father Edward Peterson, asked UNICO National to partner with the University to create a Chair in Italian Studies. This $1 million campaign was completed five years later and Professor William Connell became the first La Motta Chair in Italian Studies. As a result, in the enthusiastic response by the New Jersey membership and community, a separate endowment was created to provide an Italian Library Collection. The Valente Collection represents one of the richest of its kind in the United States and supports the activities of the La Motta Chair.

At the 1994 National Convention, a third $1 million Chair campaign was launched. This one represented a partnership with California State University - Long Beach. In 1999, Professor Carlos Chiarenza was appointed as the first Graziadio Chair in Italian Studies.

Concurrent with the Graziadio Chair campaign was yet another unique endeavor. It was a creation of a committee to raise $300,000 to fully endow a Fellowship in Italian-American History. The first DeDominicis Fellowship was conferred on Annette Pontilo in 1998 who is currently conducing research on her doctoral thesis.

The trend continued in 1998 when a group led by the Brookhaven, New York Chapter started the campaign to create a Chair in Italian Studies at SUNY - Stony Brook. This $1.5 million campaign is in its final stages.

In January 2001 a campaign for a Chair in Italian Studies was formally launched at Montclair State University in New Jersey. This effort has met with a great deal of interest and support from the UNICO Foundation and in New Jersey Chapters. This campaign is progressing well and is anticipated to be successfully completed.

All of these charitable efforts have more then met the objectives of our founder Dr. Vastola and the vision of Antonio Rizzuto. UNICO continues to provide the scholarships and the scholars to elevate the awareness of the real Italian and Italian-American contribution to our way of life. It also continues to lead in the battle against discrimination."

Respectfully submitted by Patrick Redmond, Patrick Redmond Design (PatrickRedmondDesign.com), Past President (1979-1980) of AIGA Minnesota (Minnesota Graphic Designers Association) and member of the AIGA Minnesota 30th Anniversary Committee in 2007. Unless Tim Larsen, Dale Johnston, Jim Johnson, and/or Peter Seitz are of Italian descent, Patrick Redmond, whose maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Italy, and whose family on his mother's side of the family tree is of Italian heritage, is the first person of Italian heritage to lead the AIGA Minnesota Chapter [when it was known as MGDA, the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association]. (The name "Redmond" is from Patrick's father's side of the family, and is of Irish heritage.)

You really need to do something to separate the comments. Bold the commenter's name, add a thin rule btween comments... something...

Pretty hard to parse them now.

Helping out public schools. I'm a Media & Technology Specialist in the St. Paul Public Schools and am reaching out the the design community. If you have Macs and related-hardware that you are phasing out of service, please think about donating them to JJ Hill Montessori elementary school. We have a technology initiative to bring at least one computer into every classroom. We are excited to get the things that most people, especially designers, consider 'old.' My contact info is: Jennifer Anderson, Media & Technology
JJ Hill Elementary School
998 Selby Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104
651 293 8720

Cross-posting from the AIGA home page:

Has anyone used Adobe Bridge successfully in their business? I am a member of a brand new marketing department where there isn't anything in place for tracking jobs. In the past, I have always had a Traffic person give me a job packet that contained job numbers and what-not but this place is so brand new, we are starting out from scratch so am looking at options to help streamline workflow.

I watched the video on the Adobe site and it looks really neat but does it work? In the near future, my department size will double and I can't risk the possibility of several versions being out in the open for other team members to pull the wrong one.

If anyone can offer any insight, no matter what the information is, I would really appreciate it. I'm trying to research this and report back with my findings so wanted to ask my fellow professionals their opinion.

I'm Windows based if this makes a difference. All of my jobs would be saved on a folder specifically for my dept., where no one else can access it but my dept on the "G" drive.

Thanks in advance and look forward to any thoughts you may have. :)

Jill

This is regards to Josh's question about how I can be a designer and not be familiar with typefaces in general or even where to get them:

Josh: I have worked in professional environments for the past 10 years where I have never had to purchase fonts, the department/company has been fully established and I have always had what I needed.

I am currently in a department where there is NOTHING so starting from scratch is new for me. I apologize if you might think I should know more but when I haven't had to do this before, how COULD I know? :)

I have always had fonts so never had to look for new ones as I have a ton but I've been on a Mac. My PC doesn't have much so was just looking for my fellow professionals to offer suggestions.

Thanks for the sites, I will take a look.

Jill

Hi everyone,

I've recently started at a company who is brand new to having a designer on board so they are lacking in many things, such as fonts.

I want to get more fonts but am interested in font collections, like a CD collection that has a bunch of fonts on it, rather than having to purchase individually. I'm interested in the display fonts as I know how to attain the traditional ones.

I'm on a PC :( so if anyone knows of a good place to go for something like this, could you please post? I only know of fonts.com but haven't had much luck for the collection CD's or even if they do exist.

Thanks much!

Jill

Or talk behind them. Oh snap!

CE: Are you referring to the out-of-date books you receive from the AIGA?

Oh please. This organization only exists to pat other designers on the back.

Well at the same time there are many examples of free to view job boards that charge to fund their websites/organizations. 37 Signals, Coroflot, Creative Hotlist, Newstoday, etc�all seem to deliver these listings for free to viewers without controversy.

Yet to make it a members only benefit and to say it invites only the best people to submit is ludicrous. What happened to friendly competition for jobs? I know the first thought in a CD�s head is not to find an AIGA member, then a stellar prospect. So in summation if you aren�t a member of AIGA, you are a bad designer.

Haha I needed a good laugh.

Despite all this it is their prerogative. Personally, I could let this go if they would work to reconnect with their large design community and build beyond their pre-existing programs and better their case for the benefits of an AIGA membership. The Cocktails event is a good start, but I would like to see if some heads would come together and find something a bit more enticing.

People seem to be confused.

The AIGA is not asking for money to view the job section. The AIGA is a professional organization. To be a member of that organization you have to pay dues. Once you are a member of the organization you get some great perks. One of those perks is the ability to view job postings.

i dont think you should be asking for $ to view the job section. does that turn things around for employers as well? the beauty of the site before was how open it was to the public.

Is the discount new? I haven't been here long but I haven't heard of it until I got a letter a few weeks ago. I do think it's a good move though, and I just renewed today :-)

We understand that the time after graduation is a critical period. It is also a time when AIGA can help the most.

Full-time graphic design students enrolled in an accredited college or university are eligible for a student membership rate of $75. When you graduate, student members are eligible for a 50% discount on the Associate level membership for one year. The Associate level membership is available for $210 per year to anyone who has practiced in any design community for two or fewer years. Graduating student members can get this rate for one year at $105.

We hope that this will help students ease into their professional lives while giving you the full benefits of membership in AIGA.

Alison Beattie
Student Representative, AIGA Minnesota
Member since 2003
AIGA | the professional association for design

There should be some kind of provision for those who graduated from college and are still looking for a good job in the field because the membership fee is pretty steep for those who don't have that good paying job in design yet. I think more people would become members if the price wasn't so steep and more members means more money in the end.

Yes, you have to be a current member to view the entire job posting.

In addition to that and all the other benefits of membership, you can also now search national listings directly from our website and post your resume and portfolio at aigadesignjobs.org.

Jim Madson

President, AIGA Minnesota
Member since 1993
AIGA | the professional association for design

so do you have to be a paying member to view the full job description?